While Everything Burns
by Sokorra Lewis
Summary: After the events of FFII, Frankie Raye is asked to be the full time liaison with the Fantastic Four. However, before she can begin her new job, Victor von Doom has some plans in store for her.
1. Work 89

Author's Notes: This was intended to be a one shot but its turning out to be too long for that, so I'm going to write it as a chapter fic. It's for the Fanfic100 claim community, where I have the movieverse Johnny/Frankie ship claimed.

Despite the events in this story being mentioned in my other one-shots, this story is not connected to any of them. It takes place roughly 3 months after the end of the second movie. Each chapter will probably have a claim theme. This chapter is #89 – Work.

You can find all the claim fic on my fic-journal (the homepage on my profile)

* * *

Frankie Raye was not having the best of days, week even. It was her last week at work as _Captain Francis Raye_ before she assumed the civilian role as governmental liaison to Fantastic Four Incorporated. Apparently, they thought it would look better if she was a civilian then if she was military and after the whole situation with the Silver Surfer three months ago, she wasn't about to argue with the reassignment. Or rather, forced retirement.

The last three months had been mostly her filing reports on what happened, alerting her superiors to her actions and finally training her replacement. Captain Larissa Lewis was only a few years younger then her, and had the same experience being a General's aide as she did really, in fact she had worked with the new General in charge of the project. Luckily this one wasn't as hard headed about things as the previous General.

She sighed. Despite being a jerk to Reed Richards and his "family", General Heeder was a good man and she had been close to him after working together for several years. They had an almost...well uncle-niece relationship she would say. He wasn't quite old enough to be a father figure, but certainly filled a role quite close. It still seemed odd that he was no longer there.

If she ever saw Victor von Doom again, it would be too soon and she certainly wouldn't stop anyone from attacking the bastard.

Tossing the last of her personal stuff into the cardboard box, she sat down in her office chair. It was a nice office, overlooking the city. She had grown up in the city, and was glad to have gotten assigned here when she did. She spun the chair around and looked out the window. Sometimes it was relaxing to just sit there and watch while everyone else rushed around. Today she had a spare minute to do so, so she indulged herself.

Reason #1 that she was having a bad week: Stress for switching jobs and work environments.

Reason #2 that she was having a bad week: Broke up with boyfriend of less then two months. Who just so happened to work at the same place she was going to be working on a consistent basis...in fact, there was a good chance they would be neighbors.

Reed Richards had offered her an apartment in the Baxter Building and she was considering it. It was bigger then her current apartment and it certainly was closer to work and possibly would allow more bringing the work home. It also gave her more access to the goings on at the lab that resided on the top two floors of the building along with Reed and Sue's apartment. Johnny and Ben (along with his girlfriend Alicia) had their apartments on the next floor where hers would be located. And the rent wasn't too bad either.

And Johnny Storm lived just across the hall. She didn't know really what had changed her mind about him, but when he had asked her to be his date for Reed and Susan's wedding, she had agreed. And they had been dating since then. Recently Johnny had decided he wanted to get a little more serious then they had been and she hadn't been ready for it. This had lead to this morning when they had a big fight and somehow, they were no longer together. She wasn't sure who actually stated the words first, but they were final and she didn't know whether to be relieved, anxious or upset.

How do you admit to someone you're afraid of their superpower? That had been her own problem with the relationship. After getting to know him better, she had left behind the "narcissistic" part of her definition although he was still a little self absorbed every once and awhile. However, she hadn't minded it that much, and if she did she told him and he stopped, or at least attempted to do so. However she had always thought it wouldn't last, she supposed. Johnny wasn't known to have long lasting relationships and she figured sooner or later he would have ended it. Therefore she wasn't too worried about admitting her pyrophobia.

The only people who knew about her nearly paralyzing fear were her parents, General Heeder and her friend Maria who worked with her here. Maria had tried to help her over the years they had been stationed together to get over it, but to no luck so far. Granted, it was hard to get her to go anywhere near a fire, let alone close enough to one to break her fear. Her parents hadn't really done anything but encourage it and the General had ignored it.

She had never actually been near Johnny when he used any of his powers, and likely wouldn't unless Reed was doing some kind of checkup to see how their mutations were evolving. Which she figured she would not be needed for if she was needed for anything really. There was no need to make any of them aware of the fear she had.

"I can't believe you're leaving us," a voice came from the door. Frankie spun around to face the door and smiled at Maria Brutus, who stood leaning against the doorway. "Although I can forgive you as long as you invite me to your new place once and awhile so I can enjoy the scenery," she said teasing. It was well known around the office that Maria thought well of all the male members of the Fantastic Four and would not object to merely watching them. Reed Richards in particular.

"I may not move in there, you know. My apartment is just fine."

"Please." Maria rolled her eyes. "The apartment we saw the other day was a world away from your current apartment. Just the kitchen alone made my day. And it has _real_ air conditioning, not just a window AC."

"Would you like to move in then?"

"Why, planning on using another apartment in that building?" Maria asked raising an eyebrow as she sat on the desk.

"Johnny and I broke up this morning," she replied, knowing just what Maria was referring to.

"Why?"

"He wanted to make it official...instead of casual dates, actually be a couple."

"And that's a problem because?"

"I wasn't ready for that kind of relationship."

"Why on earth not? You're not dating anyone, he's not dating anyone. You haven't dated much of anyone in the years I have known you so I know there isn't someone whom you're emotionally attached to that broke your heart or anything." Maria paused and then stared pointedly down at Frankie. "This isn't about the fact that he can turn himself into a ball of flame is it?" When Frankie didn't respond, Maria sighed and shook her head. "Frankie, you decided to stay out of any serious relationship from the start because of that didn't you? You don't want to get seriously involved because you're afraid that one day you'll have to admit that deep down the boy scares you to death because he can turn into a fireball."

"There is nothing wrong with that."

"Yes, there is, but I'm not going to argue it with you," she said in a saddened tone. "Almost done packing?"

"Yeah. I'll be ready in a few minutes, even though I have the entire day before I have to leave."

"Well, that means plenty of time for cake!"

* * *

Victor Von Doom was angry. In the past three years he had lost a fiancée, been turned into a metal superman, been turned into a metal statue, been given another chance, got kicked across the planet and sunk into the bottom of the ocean. It hadn't taken him long to get out of the ocean. He still had some loyal employees who searched for him and found him before he drowned. He still could, though it took _much_ longer then the average human.

He had documents pulled up on his desk of all those who were involved in the release of the Silver Surfer, and ultimately the Fantastic Four. From what his few loyal employees had gathered for him, it was mostly the doing of the four themselves. However there were a few officers that were in positions where they might have stopped them. He had already taken care of the General. The next person on the list was the aide…Capitan Raye.

He remembered little of her, not taking much notice to her. He had been more attentive to the General who could get him where he needed to be. But he did remember that she hadn't been quite friendly with Johnny Storm, although if he read the papers right, that had changed.

The papers in front of him gave him simple information. Her real name was Francis Elizabeth Raye, daughter of Thomas Raye, stepdaughter of Dr. Phineas Horton. 29 years old, Air Force Captain. Tall, blonde, blue eyed. Born and raised in New York, and was currently based there. Soon to be discharged for a civilian position between the government and military and Fantastic Four Inc.

_Arsonphobiaic __due to childhood accident-induced trauma._

He smiled to himself and motioned to his assistant Leonard who stood in the corner watching him as he read the papers in front of him.

"Get me a flight to New York. I have an idea."

* * *

Reed and Sue were working in the lab when Johnny walked in and it was easy for both of them to see he was slightly agitated. However, both knew better then to ask him. He would either spill about what was bothering him, or he wouldn't. If they asked, there was a good chance he'd choose the later, especially if it was particularly serious problem.

"Well, it appears Frankie and I are no longer together," he commented as he threw himself on the couch nearby and started to flip through the channels on the TV. "She thinks we are going to fast." He said it like it didn't matter, but Sue could tell that it did regardless. However, she had also gotten to know Frankie in the last couple of months and had an idea as to why Frankie didn't want to go as fast as Johnny, did…which probably wasn't fast at all considering what she had seen.

"You two had a fight?" She asked, bringing her laptop with her into the living room. She and Reed were working on an intranet for the members that would allow them to do projects together without involving the rest of the staff. Basically to give them a little more privacy. It had actually been Johnny's idea after a few of their projects leaked out to the public. Frankie, who had experience in computer security, had given a few tips and Sue and Reed were now designing the new programs that would put it in place.

"If you want to call it that," he said, continuing to flip through the channels. "It was more her saying she thought we were going to fast. I wasn't allowed really to say anything at all."

"Did you try calling her later?"

"Yes, a couple of times but she's either not answering or her phone's dead."

"Well, are you going to help us move her out of her old office later today?"

"I was planning on it, but given certain events of this morning, it may not be a good idea."

"Well, you should come and the two of you could talk while we take out the boxes and what not to the car." Sue honestly hoped they would work it out. She wondered if the stress of the last couple of months had finally gotten to Frankie. After all she had dealt with her mentor and good friend being killed in a violent matter, being grilled by her superiors for her actions, and then being told she gets a promotion, only its not a true promotion but one that takes her out of the armed forces. It made Sue slightly angry at the thought. They claimed it was because they felt her being non-military would be an asset, but really it was just the good guys in charge finding a way to keep the bad guys from trying to get her fired for losing the board.

The fact that it had been these 'superiors' who had authorized Victor's involvement in the case and therefore they are more at fault then Frankie didn't seem to matter.

"We'll see," Johnny said at last.


	2. Fire 52

A/N: The claim for this chapter is fire, and some scenes that would belong here will be seen as flashbacks in the next chapter. Thanks to Anna for the beta job.

Also, let me know if my Victor was out of character. This is my first time writing Victor and I wasn't sure if I got him or not.

* * *

Frankie made her decision around noon. It was a couple hours before she expected the Richards and company to arrive to help clear out her stuff and move it to the office they were supplying her with at the Baxter. She was getting an opportunity of a lifetime, even if it didn't fit in with her plan for her life. Frankie had always been a planner. Even as a kid, she'd annoy her mom by being more organized then her. She had decided at 14 that she wanted to join the Army and become a scientist like her stepfather. And she held to that.

But if wasn't as if she was not used to changing her grand master plan. After all, at 14 her plan had also had her getting married at 25, with two kids by the time she was thirty. The accident at sixteen had made her unable to have kids, so that altered the plan. Of course, working on the "strange and weird phenomena" as part of her job also left her with not a lot of options for the husband in the scene.

So she was going to take the apartment. Maria was right. It was a lot better than the one she currently had, and it wasn't as if the Richards were giving it to her. It was going to be rented, abet at a much lower rate then she knew the apartment was worth. She was going to be a scientist, which is one of the things she always wanted to be, and she was going to be able to work with some of the brightest people. She'd still see her friends in the Army and still be working with the Army.

As for Johnny, if she was going to be adult about it, they needed to talk. And living near him wasn't going to be as hard as working with him, so she needed to get over it.

She called Sue, and told her the decision, and Sue had offered to help her move her stuff from the apartment to the new one as well. Which she had accepted. After all, how often do superheroes offer to move your furniture?

That decision found her at her apartment, throwing things into boxes. She didn't own much, her position in the military often finding her half way across the world, so she rarely had time to gather things to clutter her home with, and what she did manage was effected by her need for organization. Maria was helping, although help might not be the word as she was spending too much time ogling Frankie's shoe collection.

Frankie's phone rang just as she was finishing up the tape on her boxes of DVDs. She frowned, looking over at the headset, knowing practically no one knew the number or used it. She mainly had it for emergencies or if a guest (not there were many) needed to use it. Otherwise she used her cell. The only people who ever really called were her parents.

* * *

Sue and Alicia arrived before any of the male members of the Fantastic Four, and only found Maria dancing to some CD she had found behind one of Frankie's bookcases.

"Frankie's Dad called," Maria stated after the girls asked about Frankie's non-appearance. He said it was an emergency, so she went. She also said she'd try to be back as soon as possible."

Alicia and Maria continued to talk while Sue wondered around the apartment. They had to wait for Ben to arrive in his truck. Somehow though, Sue was having a bad feeling about the afternoon. Ever since the night she…well, died….her instinct that something was about to go wrong amplified. She almost always could tell when they would get a call from the police or whoever to come help. She would just get this antsy feeling and _know._ And she was getting that feeling right now.

* * *

Frankie stepped into her father's lab finding most of the lights off. Normally this wouldn't be a surprise, but given her father's urgency she expected half his science team to be at various projects in the large space that used to be a guest house.

Finny Holden had been the son of a wealthy man, who was the son of another wealthy man and so on and so forth. The Holden Estate was located thirty minutes outside Manhattan on a good day, but you wouldn't know it from the amount of trees that surrounded the property. Phil and his father had increased the ancestral property over the years, trying to preserve some of it for nature. She had spent many happy days of her childhood exploring the woods and gardens that filled the acreage.

The long driveway ran past the large house and then took on a small one-way brick lane towards the guest house. It had a small parking area for the scientists, usually interns from the local universities. The guesthouse itself was two stories, with one area cut off for offices and administrative duties, while another portion was the entire two floors, used for larger experiments.

That was the section in which she had her accident back when she was sixteen. She rarely went in there anymore, mostly because she didn't want to, but partially because she didn't think her stepfather wanted her there either. It wasn't a pleasant memory for either of them.

The area she was in now was the large open area they used as a lobby. From the lobby extended two hallways, one leading to offices and the other to the experiment room, and two more doors. One led to Finny's personal office, the other was to the bathroom.

The room looked odd. Nothing seemed out of place, yet did at the same time. Frankie's 'hinky sense' was going off.

"Dad?"

"In here, Frances." She wondered over to his office, noting the weary tone he had. She walked in and nearly gasped in surprised to find her father tied to a chair.

"Dad, what's going on?" She rushed over and went to untie him only to find a gun at the back of her head.

"Not so fast, Captain Raye. You should really greet all the occupants of the room before focusing in on one." She stood up as a gloved hand took her arm and drew her away from her father. She recognized the voice, how could she not.

Victor Von Doom was in her father's laboratory.

"What do you want, Doom?"

"Ah, a strictly business type. Figured as much, although that does make your relationship with Storm even more puzzling." Somehow the man was still acting the business man, as if they were sitting down for a business lunch instead of him threatening to shoot.

She nearly cursed herself when she was surprised again when he brought out a pair of handcuffs and snapped one on her wrist and the other on a pipe that went into the ground. She wasn't going anywhere.

She was trained for this kind of stuff and she let Doom surprise her. She didn't show her surprise though, figuring she could stall Doom until she could think of a plan.

"I take it you are here for a reason. You usually don't bother the common people if you can help it." He smiled, and she felt a shiver. He was a genius, but he had completely lost it. Obviously the cosmic wave accident had caused more than mutation for him.

"And you would be right. Although I doubt you'll like what I want, but I'm going to have it anyway. You see, I don't like it when things don't go as planned. Our last adventure together didn't go as plan. As such I expect retribution."

"If you are trying to attract the Fantastic Four here, it's not going to work." They would be the most obvious focus of Doom's wrath.

"If I was trying to get them here, I'm sure it would work. After all, it would be me doing it. Its only when I involve other people my plans fail. Ergo, this one will succeed. No, Captain, this is not about the Fantastic Four. Just you."

"I'm flattered" she stated sarcastically. "And what exactly is your plan?"

"Simply to show you your greatest fear, but before I do, I have to wonder…" He stepped up to her and ran his hand down her check. She smacked him with her free arm. He just looked at her and smiled.

"Ah, I see. Hidden layers. Perhaps that idiot is smarter then I took him for." Then Doom held up the gun and opened it to show the two others that it was empty. Frankie inwardly shouted at herself for falling for that.

"Did you really think I would _shoot_ you Captain Raye? I'm not that type. I have more finesse then that. No, you will get the unique privilege of living out your greatest fear. He held up a single match, grinned some more and flicked a figure towards it, a flame instantly coming to life. She raised an eyebrow. Her greatest fear was not a match. Anyone could tell that if they just went into her bedroom or bathroom. She had a thing for good smelling candles. So small flames would do nothing to her. Even small controlled fires would do nothing to her. It was uncontrolled fires that freaked her out. Seeing Johnny in full flame-on for example.

Which reminded her, something to think about when she got out of this mess. Because she was going to get out of this mess. If she didn't she'd probably have to come back and haunt Doom, and while it might be funny to haunt the crazy guy, she didn't really want that.

But then Doom did a dramatic turn that would have made Frankie laugh if she was not chained to a pipe and walked away, dropping the match as he left.

"You are going to have to pay for that carpet!" Frankie yelled, before going at her handcuffs with a piece of wire she happened to have in her pocket from making sandwiches earlier.

"I'm sorry, Frankie," came the tired voice of her father, whose chair now sat between her and the flames, blocking most of it out of view.

"What are you talking about?"

"I shouldn't have called you. He threatened your mother, but I shouldn't have called you. Lizzie will never forgive me if she found out. I'll never forgive myself. Not that there is much time for the guilt."

"Dad, we are getting out of here.

"Not this time, sweetheart. He doused the place. It will have burned the place down in about half an hour. Unless your boyfriend arrives, I doubt we will survive this."

"Stop it. We shall get out of…" she gulped as a flam flicked above her father's head, climbing the walls quicker than before. ".. here."

_Don't Panic!_

* * *

Elizabeth Holden saw the car pull out of the driveway at what she considered an unsafe speed for such a place. Frowning she closed the curtains and walked to the back of the house to look to see if Finn was coming home now that his visitor had left. However she was greeted with the sight of giant flames across the windows, then a boom as the glass broke.

She ran to the phone and called 911 before rushing to get her husband out of that fire.

* * *

They had the pickup almost filled with the first load of boxes when Reed's phone went off. He stated that it was a fire and rattled off the address.

Johnny stopped mid step. That was Frankie's parent's place. She had told him about one night when as a date he had taken her to the Baxter's roof garden and had a midnight picnic. It had been one his better memories. They had swapped stories of their childhoods and he had gotten his first real kiss from her.

Sue must have picked up on his look because she nodded to Reed that they were going. He began typing in the activation codes of their ship when Johnny finally started to speak.

"That's the Holden's place," he stated. "Frankie's parents." With that the other four looked at him in shock. Usually they didn't know the people they were going to help, and sometimes it helped in a way. Frankie had gone to her father's lab, which they knew was located in the same location, so no doubt Frankie was involved.

"You know how to drive," Ben stated as he throw the keys to Maria who nodded. She got in the truck just as the Fantasticar arrived and soon all four were off towards the Holden Estate."

They arrived before the firefighters, but even they could tell that the building wasn't going to be salvaged. The fire was too vibrant. It was also unlikely that anyone insides was alive anymore, but they had to try. Johnny went in first as he was the only one fireproof.

He found Elizabeth Holden a few feet in the door, passed on the floor. She didn't appear to be badly burnt, though her hands were blistering and if he didn't get her out of there in the next few seconds she would get torched as well with all the heat this fire was giving off.

He pulled her out and let Sue take care of her while he went in search of anyone else. The place appeared deserted until he found the office.

It was a strange sight. The walls were black, and flames burst all around, but in the center of the room, it was as if it was hidden from the rest of the room. Phineas Holden sat in a chair, head bowed, with a good five feet barrier between him and the nearest flame. Frankie sat on the floor opposite him, the same barrier around her, but she had a glazed look her eye, and an odd reddish tint that reminded him of the few times he saw close-ups of himself about to go into flame-mode. He hurried out to his sister and told her the location. He led her and Reed through while Ben worked to create a fire stop so the fire didn't spread to the neighboring forest. They walked quickly as Sue was using a force field to protect her and Reed, and later the two in the office. Reed was able to pick up Finny while Johnny picked up a now passed out Frankie and they rushed out of the building, Sue dropping the shield as soon as they were safe and sitting on the ground in exhaustion.

They soon found out that it was too late for Phineas Holden. He had died of a lack of oxygen. He had slight heat burns on his arms, but that hadn't killed him. Something had protected him from the flames, but not the lack of oxygen in the room.

Paramedics rushed all three to the local hospital and after a quick change into street clothes, the four followed. When they arrived, they found Elizabeth had awoken. Luckily her placement by the door had been close enough that while she had some smoke inhalation, it wasn't too serious, and her burns weren't as well.

Frankie however remained unconscious. She was untouched. No burns, no sign of oxygen deprivation, or smoke inhalation. She looked like she was sleeping and the doctors could find nothing physically wrong with her except that she had a panic attack before passing out.

And her hair was red.


	3. Death 30

Elizabeth Holden had married her second husband when her daughter was six. As far as Frankie was concerned, Finny had been her father. Thomas Raye, Frankie's biological father wouldn't allow him to officially adopt Frankie despite the fact that Tom hadn't been involved in Frankie's life at all. He and Lizzie had divorced right after Frankie was born, and he had moved to California with his second wife Lorraine. Oddly though Lorraine was the one who kept in touch, and sent the birthday cards to Frankie every year. She made the calls on Christmas. Frankie had even started calling her Aunt Lorrie since Lorraine was acting more like family then Tom.

Lorraine had made the call when she heard about the fire, asking about Frankie's condition, giving condolences on Finny's death. It added an odd normalcy to a very odd day for Lizzie.

Her husband was dead after getting a visit in his lab, her daughter was unconscious and in a hospital, her hands had heat blisters all over them, and she could hear the doctor and her daughters friends discuss what might have gone on in the other room, and their explanation was certainly not normal.

She looked down at her daughter, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully. The Doctor claimed she was perfectly healthy, just showing symptoms of exhaustion. There was no sign of burn damage, or smoke inhalation. In fact, if he hadn't known better, he would have assumed she hadn't been in the fire at all.

The only physical sign she had been was that her hair was now a soft red color, instead of the usual blonde Frankie kept her hair as. It was her natural hair color, about the only legacy from Tom she had. Lizzie had always thought she looked nice as a redhead, but Frankie always preferred the blonde.

She smoothed her hair down, and looked up at where Johnny was standing leaning up against the wall. He had changed out of his uniform, instead wearing a layered shirt and a pair of jeans. His relationship with her daughter had been an amusement and a concern for her. Amusement as Finny had been researching him ever since he started calling himself The Human Torch so she probably knew more about her daughter's boyfriend then most mothers did. Plus Frankie's initial bad opinion morphing into her current status was amusing to watch. The concern came in because the same reasons any mother would be concerned. The media had him as a playboy, never settling down into a relationship and loving the attention the media gave him. But she had long since learned that appearances can be deceiving, even ones that are mostly true.

Frankie needed someone in her life that would make her take it less seriously. It wasn't that her daughter didn't have fun, or didn't relax when she needed to, but she had personality where she could get lost in her work. Something she shared with her stepfather. Lizzie was just worried that Johnny could take her a little further then she needed to go in that arena.

"Mrs. Holden?" She looked over to the Doctor who had entered followed by the Richards and Ben Grimm. "I have a few questions to ask you,"

"Of course," she stated.

"Does your family have," he paused, looking uncomfortable with his question. "A history of mutation?"

She blinked, stared at the doctor and blinked again. Then burst out laughing. Johnny looked annoyed at the question, and the rest were watching her in various states of concern.

"I think you should sit down, Doctor. I think there is something I need to tell you. My daughter is not a mutant, not in the way you were thinking about. But it's a long story, and I should have thought of this before." With the recent legislation controversy when it came to mutants, she knew finding out one was a mutant was not something thought to be a good thing. Frankie had often ranted to her about how there were some mutants on her staff who were afraid to admit they were due to the anti-mutant stance that was growing.

"A little over a decade ago, my husband was working on a project that he called the Human Torch." She sent a weak smile in Johnny's direction, noting his look of surprise. "It was an android that was built to find people and fight fires that were too hot or too dangerous for human firefighters. However, they kept coming across problem after problem with the programming or the chemical solution that the Android excreted to protect itself. The project got shut down."

How could she have forgotten this. This had been a major issue in her life for the last 13 years.

"Frankie was helping Finny dispose of a drum of the chemical when the accident occurred. We aren't sure what exactly happened, but we think one of the wheels of the dolly got stuck in a rut in the floor, and caused the drum to tip over. It spilled all over the floor and on Frankie before it burst into flames." She closed her eyes in the memory. It had been thirteen years, but the sight of her daughter in flames was as clear in her mind as the flames from yesterday were.

"When we managed to fight the flames and put them out, Frankie was unconscious, but unhurt. It was scary for a bit because she wasn't breathing but she started to a few moments after we reached her.

"Finny did a few tests and believed that chemical was absorbed into her body. That it made her virtually unable to burn."

"So this is a chemically induced reaction?" Dr. Harper said before turning to Reed Richards. "That would explain her lack of injuries."

"I don't get it. If Frankie knew she could protect herself in a fire, why was she all freaked out?" Elizabeth looked at Johnny, never having heard this part before. She knew that Johnny had been the one to find her husband and daughter, but she hadn't known what he had seen. "She looked terrified."

"She doesn't know," Lizzie whispered, almost inaudibly. It was her fault. If she hadn't been so terrified of her daughter's abilities this wouldn't have happened.

"What do you mean?" Sue asked, frowning.

"Finny and I were concerned after the accident that Frankie might end up using the ability. It terrified us. I'm ashamed to admit it now, but it did. So he had a friend who was able to hypnotize her into forgetting what had happened. She remembers being in an accident, but the details are fuzzy for her. We thought that would be easier on her. And to keep her from knowing about it, we also made her…pyrophobic."

_

* * *

Frankie managed to find a paperclip near enough to her that she could grab and started to pick the lock on her handcuffs, taking deep breaths while she did it. She was not going to panic._

"_Frankie, its no use. The fire is too hot."_

"_Shut up, dad." She made the mistake of looking at him, and seeing the flames invading the doorway, and slowly suffocating the room. She felt dizzy, and her chest felt tight, but not from the lack of air in the room, but from the panic about to sit in.  
_

_She slid down the wall, trying to keep herself from passing out. This wouldn't do. She had to get her dad out of there. There was no way in hell she was letting either of them die in a fire. _

_For a moment she thought she saw someone in the flames, but she shook her head. It couldn't be. She knew full well the only person here was her father._

_She thought she heard voices, but the darkness was sitting in, she wasn't feeling too good. On the bright side, the panic was loosing its hold and she was breathing ok again._

_Till the moment she realized she was going to die in a fire.

* * *

_

Johnny exited the room unnoticed by the others still discussing Frankie's abilities and how to treat her and walked down the hall to a sitting area. He needed some air and he needed to be out of the room for awhile.

Frankie was afraid of fire. Uncontrolled fire. Which meant she had been afraid of him whenever he was using his own abilities. He had never known someone actually afraid of him before. Sure there were those in the general population who were afraid of them but he didn't _know _them. He knew Frankie. He liked Frankie. He liked her a lot more then he probably should, but that wasn't the issue. The issue was that Frankie was afraid of him and hadn't thought to be honest and tell him.

Although, why would you admit to someone that you were afraid of them? Another question was if you were afraid of someone's abilities, why would you date them. Suddenly Frankie's words from the other day were making more sense.

She wasn't afraid of them moving too fast. She was afraid that she'd have to disclose her fear of fire. How he was supposed to deal with that. Convincing her to date him had been a hassle in the first place, and he knew that was easy compared to figuring out how to deal with a phobia.

Worse yet, Frankie would know now. She'd know about the hypnotism, she'd know about her abilities to control fire, she'd know the truth about her accident. She'd have to deal with that along with the fact that despite everything she did, her father still died.

"Johnny?" He looked up from where he was sitting to see his sister walking towards him, looking concerned.

"Needed some air," he said simply, knowing what her question was.

"Frankie's awake," she said in response. "We've all been kicked out for a few minutes while they check her over." He nodded. She sat down beside him. "She'll want to see you when they are done."

"I doubt that, we broke up remember. Plus there is the whole fire thing."

"I don't think she expects you come in on fire, John." Sue gave him a look that told him he better listen to what she had to say. "She's afraid of fire, not you. Yes, you come with a serious fire issue, but she's going to need you to get through this. Someone who understands what its like to be able to control fire."

"I can't control it like she does," he responded.

"No, but you have some experience, you can at least help her through the training to control it. She'll want that, you know." He did. Frankie hated being out of control. If she could control her abilities, she'd want to, even if it meant facing her fears.

He sighed and sat back, looking at the ceiling. Normally at this point, he'd be saying some smart comment about being the best at what he did, but at the moment he didn't feel like it.

* * *

Frankie felt ridiculous. She was in a hospital gown, which in itself did not tend to make people comfortable, but she had one doctor shooting a light into her eyes, while another one kept asking her questions.

She had awoken to hear her mother explaining her accident to those in the room, and had managed to keep herself from showing she was awake. It was only after she felt the pressure on one of her hands release and heard the movement of someone leaving the room did she let them in on the fact that she was awake.

She was angry. She was angry at her parents for keeping this from her, angry at herself for failing to save her father, angry at Victor for killing him. She was even mad at Johnny for leaving her there to face this alone.

After Doctors Harper and Stevens were assured that she was in fact completely ok, and that there weren't missing any random brain trauma, she was left alone for a moment. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and went to the bathroom to take a look at herself.

Red hair. A $100 hair dye and style down the drain. She didn't look half bad though, it could have been worse. She sighed and leaned her head up against the wall. Here she was worried about her appearance when her father was _dead_. Finny Holden would never call her up again to tell her the latest ridiculous science project he had come up with, or be found in his vegetable garden, or reading on the back porch with Lizzie beside him, swinging on the slider couch.

She slid to the floor, not even stopping the tears that came down. There was no one there to see her break down, and even if there were at the moment she couldn't give a damn. She could feel her breath hitch as she cried, and she pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned her head against them.

She didn't know how long she sat there crying before he came in, but she didn't notice until he sat down beside her on the floor and pulled her into his lap, holding her close. She curled into him, accepting the comfort he gave.

When she was finished crying, he reached over and grabbed some paper towels to let her wipe her face.

"Your mom is outside waiting to come in," he said almost whispering. "Maria is here too with some clothes for you to change into as we didn't think you would enjoy the hospital gown." She laughed a little, giving him her first smile since she woke up. He smiled back and stood up, helping her up as well.

"Thank you," she whispered as she hugged him one more time. He didn't say anything but hugged her back and left the room to go find Lizzie.

* * *

The Funeral was that Friday. Frankie had been released from the hospital a few hours after she woke up and she spent the time between that and the funeral distracting herself by moving in. By the time she was getting ready to go, her new apartment was almost ready to go.

Her mother on the other hand had gone back home and brought back the back-uped files of her husband for Reed to peruse. Finding out exactly what happened 13 years ago appeared to be her distraction.

Not that either of them were truly distracted from the reality that Finny was dead.

Finny had decided to be cremated, and have his ashes stored in the family mausoleum at the cemetery near where his family home stood. The gatherers ranged from his immediate family, to his students to a few acquaintances. Johnny had come with her, but the other members of the fantastic four had decided to stay away from the funeral to keep it from being a media circus, but she knew they were there for her. Just as they had been during the time she was mourning for General Heder.

Frankie managed not to cry during the ceremony. She stood with her mother, accepting people's condolences and other sentiments without shedding a tear. But when everyone was gone, and she noticed some of the cemetery workers finishing up sealing the stone nameplate to the tomb, the tears just came.

Her mother grabbed her hand and the two of them walked away, holding on to each other with Johnny following a few feet behind. It was when they reached the car that she realized what she needed to do.

She needed to figure out how to control whatever this was she could do. She needed to find out what Doom had held over her father to allow him to get her there, and what he had done to break the strong man she remembered. And she was going to make Doom wish he had remained on the bottom of the Atlantic.


End file.
